Consumption of bio-fuel E5 RON 92 nationwide increased 31.8% in the first half of this year to 1.78 million cubic metres, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

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The consumption of bio-fuel accounted for over 40% of the total petrol consumption in the reviewed period.

Speaking at a conference on promoting biofuel use held by the ministry on September 13 in Ho Chi Minh City, Nguyen Loc An, Deputy Director of the ministry’s Domestic Market Department, said consumption of the bio-fuel has increased significantly since the country began mass commercial use of the fuel nationwide this year.

Last year, consumption of E5 RON 92 accounted for just about 9% of total petrol consumption, he said.

Le Xuan Tinh, Deputy General Director of PV Oil, said his company’s sales of E5 RON 92 in the first half of this year made up 50% of its total fuel sales compared to 16%-18% last year.

Other oil trading companies such as Military Petroleum Corporation, Vietnam National Petroleum Group and Hai Linh Co,.Ltd have also reported higher sales of the bio-fuel.

The bio-fuel is a mixture of 95% petrol and 5% ethanol.

In Vietnam, there have been studies in recent years on the use of bio-fuels by the Hanoi University of Technology and Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology, which found them to be safe, increase the efficiency of the engine and significantly reduce the emission of pollutants.